Cricket: ODIs Aren’t Proper Cricket Edition

[Jeor]

England do bat deep. Williamson could have declared earlier (they still have another innings in hand, so they were never going to lose) but I think he still left plenty of time altogether in the match. This England team has batted out 100 overs now and there's conceivably still 46 overs left in the match. If you can't bowl out a side in 140+ overs to win a match then either you're not good enough or England have pulled out a miracle performance.

[Yukle]

44 minutes ago, The Anti-Targ said:

I think the problem goes deeper than Smith and Warner. You have to wonder what is going on in professional sports when senior people decide that blatant cheating is a good option. A decision by Smith to ball tamper doesn't just happen because he has a moment of temporary insanity. This is a decision that arises from a sporting culture that values winning and only winning, and does not value sportsmanship, fair play, and respect.

It also suggests that this isn't the first time.  

And given the sugar in pocket during the Ashes, I don't think it is.

[ants]

I'd ban Smith for one to two years.  He was cheating, if it was via drugs he'd be gone for that time (like Warne was).  Can anyone seriously say this wasn't as bad? 

[Paxter]

I’d say worse because it was an abuse of power and it was clearly premeditated (unless Steve’s mum put him up to it?)

Also: Wagner I want your babies.

[The Marquis de Leech]

Yay!

[Jeor]

Glad to see NZ managed it down to the end. It was the right result, England escaping with a draw due to rain would have been pretty tough on the Kiwis.

[Hereward]

Yeah, well played NZ. We can't go on like this. Heads Must Roll!

Speaking of heads rolling, I'm seeing some reports on my feed that Smith's team mates are turning on him for implicating them, but the stories all require an Aussie newspaper subscription, and I don't care that much! Anyone know any details?

[desire]

What a day 

[Paxter]

7 hours ago, Hereward said:

Yeah, well played NZ. We can't go on like this. Heads Must Roll!

Speaking of heads rolling, I'm seeing some reports on my feed that Smith's team mates are turning on him for implicating them, but the stories all require an Aussie newspaper subscription, and I don't care that much! Anyone know any details?

I haven’t heard anything about team mates turning against Smith, but someone reported to Fairfax that Warner was the real “mastermind” (though that term starts to become oxymoronic when applied to Davey). We should know more by tomorrow morning Sydney time.

[williamjm]

52 minutes ago, Paxter said:

I haven’t heard anything about team mates turning against Smith, but someone reported to Fairfax that Warner was the real “mastermind” (though that term starts to become oxymoronic when applied to Davey). We should know more by tomorrow morning Sydney time.

I can't imagine any of the players who weren't involved in the plan are best pleased with Smith since their reputations will probably take a hit just because of being in the team when it happened.

[The Anti-Targ]

16 hours ago, Paxter said:

I have a bad feeling that England are going to hold on. Why are we playing tests in NZ in late March! 

 

You think that is bad. We've had tests starting in Wellington in mid-April in the past. April in Wellington is a month where you can get daytime maximum temperatures of 12Deg C and biting southerlies blowing straight up from Antarctica. March is actually not that bad in most of the country, even Wellington has mostly nice days in March. But is is better to have test matches in Wellington in January or February to get a better chance of 5 days with little or no rain. In Auckland, no time of year has a particularly better chance of getting 5 days with no rain, but at least it's warmer there in autumn even when it does rain.

[Jeor]

James Sutherland has said they'll have a decision on Wednesday morning (roughly 24 hours from now).

Moises Henriques has a theory that Steve Smith was just covering for Bancroft in a moment of panic but I can't really believe that.

The David Warner Mastermind Theory makes sense in the context of his earlier tape controversy.

Cricket Australia will be furious given the TV rights are being renegotiated as we speak. Their revenue will take a big hit from this.

[Paxter]

14 minutes ago, Jeor said:

Moises Henriques has a theory that Steve Smith was just covering for Bancroft in a moment of panic but I can't really believe that.

Lol Moises. Why would Smith and Warner agree to stand down as captain mid-test if Bancroft acted alone? Does. Not. Make. Sense.

Sometimes I forget how dumb these guys are.

[Paxter]

Aussie news outlets now reporting that Lehmann will resign within 24 hours. No surprises there.

I’ll be interested to see whether Australia goes for a popular local choice as a replacement (like Langer) or opts for an international pro to try to really change the culture of the side. Langer coached Bancroft for years at the Warriors...

[Raja]

2 hours ago, Paxter said:

I haven’t heard anything about team mates turning against Smith, 

I think Gillespie wrote an article for the guardian about how some senior players were outraged/ angry or something that they had been implicated; saying that he had personal knowledge that a player felt that way etc 

[Hereward]

Gillespie would seem like a good choice. He appears to be a fundamentally good man and has been a successful coach in England.

[Raja]

13 minutes ago, Hereward said:

Gillespie would seem like a good choice. He appears to be a fundamentally good man and has been a successful coach in England.

Meant to say this with your earlier post but it seems the whole headbutt interview thing that Smith and Bancroft did certainly seemed to have rubbed people the wrong way? At the time I thought all of it was fairly harmless tbh, especially Bancroft in that interview. It seemed all to be a bit absurd and a joke, but reading some of the english papers etc, it certainly seemed to be viewed fairly negatively. Like I didn't get the big deal about the press conference. 

[Jeor]

There has been talk that some of the senior players (Hazlewood and Starc in particular) are upset about being implicated and have approached the players' union to try and get their names cleared. The "leadership group" formally includes them but from the sounds of their protests, it appears Smith/Warner/Bancroft seem to have concocted this mostly on their own.

Lehmann resigning is not surprising - he would have high odds of facing the sack anyway so at least this way he has some honour intact (unless it comes out that he did know about it all beforehand). I think we need an international coach, or at least one who has worked abroad for a while - Gillespie would be a good choice. If they want to change the culture, it isn't going to come from inside and a heavy hitting international cricket coach needs to take charge.

I know Mickey Arthur didn't work out, but someone like a Duncan Fletcher (if he isn't too old) or a Gary Kirsten could do a good job. Gillespie probably is the frontrunner, but he doesn't actually have international Test coaching experience - although I understand he interviewed very strongly for the England job on the basis of his work with Yorkshire.

[Paxter]

I’d be happy with Gillespie but I think he’s viewed as a bit of a maverick and slightly outside the Australian cricket “establishment”. That might work in his favour this time though!

[6649er]

Anyone think the ICC will do anything about ball-tampering and how it is assessed? It seems that all teams do it to some extent and that maybe the rules should be made crystal clear so that everyone knows exactly what is permitted and what is not.